I searched but couldnt find a result for what I'm specifically talking about..
So, i got some heroin earlier and injected about a point. As i injected it, it felt strangely kinda hot and made my arm kinda feel like it was stinging or burning a little bit all the way down to my hand. I didnt miss though which is the weird thing. Immediately afterward, my arm swelled up mostly on the side with the veins but a little bit underneath as well. It was a weird kind of swelling, heaps of little lumps as well as larger bits that seemed to be in patches. I put ice on it on and off and let it be, its been about an hour and a half since i injected it, my arm is almost back to normal but still a little swolen. It isnt red or anything and only a tiny bit seems to be itchy. Ive had plenty of heroin and other drugs IV before and never experienced this. ive missed before and stuff and thats swolen, but this is different to that. that swelling is local and isolated, this seems to spread right down to my hand. its not feeling severe like it was before but its still concerning me. I dont really have time to fuck around going to hospital or anything otherwise id probably have gone there. this is the first heroin i've had in quite some time if that has anything to do with it. Does anybody know what this is about? any help would be greatly appreciated.

Hmm IMO it could be due to the adulterants that the smack contained or u may indeed have missed the vein or even an allergic reaction? Someone with a bit more knowledge on IV will hopefully chime in, hope ur all right though.

I'll leave this hear for the time being, but if you don't get any useful suggestions, I'll move it over to the Other Drugs subforum if thats ok with you JoeBloggs?
Those cats are full of knowledge regarding IV-related issues.

How confident are you that it was heroin (and not honebake contaminated with codeine or just morphine?)

What was the injection site? The crook of the elbow?
Just wondering what the chances are you'd hit an artery...but I imagine that if that were the case, you'd know about it.

If it gets worse, please don't hesitate to seek medical treatment. No time to fuck around if you think it could be an emergency.

yeh i feel fine now, my arm has returned to normal although my hand still feels a little clammy and it kinda feels like light pins and needles at the injection site, which was the crook of my elbow. i went in a vein i never have usually gone for though, but it all seemed to be going fine until about 10 units in when it felt like it was burning or really warm. strange feeling, never had anything like it.

It was definitely heroin, and some decent gear too. i smoked the rest of it after this little mis-hap. my first thought was allergic reaction, because of the type of swelling. but it was only from the injection site down to my hand, not on my face or lips or anything like that so i dont know. My mate had the same amount and was fine. Maybe an atery? Ive never accidently done that before, but i imagine it would be extremely difficult to do. What happens when you accidently do that?

And yeh its cool if you move it if nobody replies soon. Thanks for your input guys.

It could be a histamine reaction. Was it itchy at all? I've had gear that made my arm and hand feel hot before and gave me a weird tingly sensation in my ears and head, I also got patchy, itchy welts around the injection site which looked exactly like other histamine reactions I've had from pst.

One thing I noticed you said that is very disconcerting. That you dont have time to fuck around going to the hospital. Im sorry to say but if this was serious you'd need a hospital, so that is a silly thing to say. Why even bother creating this thread if you werent willing to take the advice of these people if that just happened to be going to the hospital?

To me it sounds like you partially missed the shot and it caused a slight histamine reaction and possibly due to a cut, as DoctorShop said. But seriously, next time if your really worried then please dont hesitate to go to hospital or a doctor. They wont mess with your life, they cant really tell anyone as its all confidential and out of all the things it could be it may be a small problem that can be fixed easily if treated in time but if left too long could end in your arm being amputated, infections, gangrene and worst case scenario, death. So please never say silly things like "I dont have time to fuck around going to hospital" because even when it seems like things are fine, they just as easily could not be fine and sometimes the only people that can help you are medical proffessionals. We dont want our BL'ers dying!

And I know you were probably just saying that and if it had have been worse you would have gone to hospital, but I hate hearing things like this from people, its not healthy at all. Sorry if im being too serious im just always thinking of the worst thing that can happen :/

That sounds like what happens when you hit an artery.. Any chance you did that? My missus done that once, years ago - blood was a brighter red and her whole arm, particularly her hand, swelled up and when tingly - lasted about 24hrs.

^great post ketaman.
you could be right in thinking you misread that comment, but you make a very good point that no form of internet diagnosis is any substitute for medical attention, especially when we are talking about injecting street drugs of unknown purity, origin, cleanliness straight into the bloodstream (or surrounding tissue in the case of a missed or semi-missed shot).
bluelight is a wealth of information, but it doesn't - and shouldn't - take the place of medical attention when needed.
i have a friend that nearly lost an arm from an abcess - i'm sure plenty of people here have similar or far worse stories - and addiction or not, it is not worth it. if you're worried about a bad reaction to a shot, it really can't hurt to swallow your pride and get it looked at by someone who is qualified to do so.
not to lecture you or anything JB - this applies to all of us here (IDUs or not) but i hope your arm is feeling better now.

That sounds like what happens when you hit an artery.. Any chance you did that? My missus done that once, years ago - blood was a brighter red and her whole arm, particularly her hand, swelled up and when tingly - lasted about 24hrs.

Yeah the tingling down the arm towards the hand could well be from hitting an artery. Also possibly from hitting a nerve. Either of these is possible, particularly if you are digging deeper than superficial veins.

Sounds like all good now. Just be alert to possible infection - if you have ongoing pain/tenderness/heat/redness/swelling then you need medical attention.

In future, if a shot starts to burn part way through as you describe, best to pull out and start again. Don't just whack it in and hope for the best. You probably got away with it this time but that won't always happen

Some kind of shitty cut no doubt or possibly the H was contaminated with impurities or micro-organisms. What your describing sounds almost like mild compartment syndrome, or at least that you shot up something that you could feel in your veins? Not good at all... can lead to blocked Lymph glands, cardiac valve arythmia, thrombus, stroke etc. Have seen some H that looked like CWE was mixed into the H (called cheese in USA when mixed with black tar heroin...sounds yummy!)

From what you have described the swelling and little bumps... Does the bumps look like mozzie bites? If so then you did miss, maybe don't a great deal but you did.the tingling sensation in your ear sounds like a feeling you get when you have. Mixture of both ice and smack.

This happens to me from time to time. It always goes away within an hour or two but I've always been curious to what it is. Its definitley not an artery hit a slight miss with the histemine reaction sounds like the most reasonable culprit but I'm no doctor.

I have been experiencing the same exact thing (very itchy white welts around injection site), not only is it extremely itchy and uncomfortable but it happens at random times at random spots. Should I be worried? Or is this just a histamine reaction? And is is possible to miss a little bit even if I'm drawing blood? I've heard this can happen if your needle isn't properly in the vein, however I don't feel any pain when I get the welts it's just unbearably itchy, most of my questions have been answered from this thread I'm just looking for clarification, hydromorphone is my drug of choice btw

Also, how can I avoid this/fix this? If I know what causes this maybe I can remedy this somehow? Or should I just stop using the sites I get the reaction at? Happens mostly in my feet, and like I said the location is pretty random it happens in multiple spots, doesn't last more than 20 mins tho and goes away

I think it's just a histamine reaction and like you said, maybe a minor miss. I wouldn't shoot in your feet though, it's a bad place for many reasons including bacteria, very far from heart and small veins are easier to miss in. Are you micron filtering your hydromorphone pills before injecting them (if you're getting them in pill form that is)?

No I'm not micron filtering, I just use cottons, do u think I'm getting "filler" in my shot cause I'm not using micron filters? I've always known its better to use the filters I guess I've just never capitalized on getting some (micron filters). Will this help? Do u think I'm getting a reaction cause filler is getting thru the cotton?